One type of terminal for terminating an electrical wire within a connector, generally, is an elongated sheet metal terminal adapted to be crimped onto an exposed conductor of the electrical wire. The terminal includes a mating end, a terminating end and a body or transition section therebetween. The terminating end usually includes two pairs of crimp walls. One pair of walls crimps onto the outer cladding or insulation of the electrical wire, and the other pair of walls crimps onto the exposed conductor of the wire. The transition section includes a base wall which is common to a bottom wall between the crimp walls to define a generally U-shaped configuration. The transition section may include side walls coplanar with the conductor crimp walls, but the side walls of the transition section are relatively short and not as extensive as the crimp walls, because the sheet metal material would tear during crimping of the crimp walls onto the conductor. In essence, the side walls of the transition section define a cut-out in the sides of the terminal between the terminating end and the mating end. In fact, a cut-out normally is formed between the insulation crimp walls and the conductor crimp walls so that the two pairs of walls can be crimped independently or at two different stages without tearing the sheet metal material therebetween.
One of the problems with electrical terminals as described above concerns the electrical current carrying capacity or the current flow characteristics of such terminals. Specifically, when the side walls of the terminal are cut-out or otherwise reduced in dimensions between the conductor crimp walls and the mating end of the terminal, the overall cross-sectional area of the terminal is reduced in the transition section thereof. This, in turn, reduces the current carrying capabilities of the terminal. In addition, such reduced sections of the terminal decrease the structural integrity of the terminal at that point. In fact, such terminals have a tendency to bend or deform at such transition sections.
The present invention is directed to solving these problems and satisfying a need for an electrical terminal as described above, with improved current flow characteristics.